


Siren's Song

by miltonicsimile



Series: Tails of the Sea [2]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: ...its mermaid/sailor stuff so like dont be naive lol, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Little Mermaid Elements, M/M, Magic, Sailor! Seungcheol, Siren! Jeonghan, i cant tag or write summaries just trust me on this one ok, if you've read that, its verkwan, language and stuff may get vulgar, this is same verse as Song of the Sea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-18 23:04:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11884713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miltonicsimile/pseuds/miltonicsimile
Summary: Don’t get too close, don’t stop singing, and don’t let them touch you because they won’t let go.It's what all mer are taught from a young age, ingrained into them to keep them safe from humans.Beautiful and vain, Jeonghan is all that a siren should be. Clever and manipulative, he is the best the Siren Ilses has seen in generations. When his ego leads him into a reckless mission, his Siren's belt is stolen by a sailor. Angry and determined to retrieve it, Jeonghan heads into unknown waters. The magic of the sea and the forces of fate take him places he would have never imagined: in love and on land.





	Siren's Song

**Author's Note:**

> lol so i'm writing this[little mermaid-esque verkwan fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10924659/chapters/24298623/) and got stuck and wrote this instead don't @ me it's in the same verse at about the same time and the stories are interconnected don't ask me why i can't just finish what i start bc man i wish i knew
> 
> anyways  
> enjoy :-)

“There’s a large merchant ship coming up on the south side of the reef,” Chan panted, practically throwing himself out of the water onto the rocks next to Jeonghan. “If we hurry we can go claim it before anyone else, just the two of us.”

The suggestion held some appeal to Jeonghan, that he would admit. It would earn them respect and prestige among the other sirens, on top of boasting rights.

“You think we can do it?” Jeonghan asked, genuinely curious, stretching his arms out slowly. He had been sunbathing in one of his favourite spots, soaking up the warmth from the sun. A pile of empty discarded shells and fish bones sat on a rock next to him from his snack earlier, a gull would surely come for them after he left.

Chan shrugged, a confident grin plastered to his face. “You don’t?”

“No one alive has done it with less than three,” Jeonghan said, pushing his long sun lightened hair off his face. “It’s dangerous, things can go wrong with so few singing, so few watching.”

“Good thing we’re the best then,” the corners of Chan’s mouth turned up mischievously and he nodded his head to the south, the sun turning his brown eyes honeyed in the sun. It was a smile that Jeonghan had heard the other sirens say Chan learned from him, it meant one thing: trouble.

Though most sirens were vain and manipulative to a certain degree, and naturally went looking for trouble to feed their ego, Jeonghan knew he was the worst of them all. He couldn’t help it, it was just in his nature. Besides, it was what made him the best siren in a hundred years.

“Yes,” Jeonghan mused, slipping into the water. “I suppose it’s a good thing we are.”

He followed Chan beneath the water, racing him to the reef and then across it. The warm waters were a vibrant stream of colour as they swam past. Jeonghan knew the waters well, having played between the bright coral and around schools of colourful fish his whole life. Now he chased Chan’s glittering orange fins, weaving through the busy life of all the fish that called the reef home.

When Chan headed to the surface again, Jeonghan followed. His heart pounded in his chest from the exertion, and Jeonghan felt it skip a beat when he saw the massive ship fast approaching above them.

“Wow,” Chan breathed, head skyward, taking in the sheer size of the vessel.

“You still think we can do it?”

“Of course,” Chan answered quickly, full of the confidence of a young siren with only twelves moons under his belt. “This is our chance to prove ourselves, to show we really are the best.”

Jeonghan nodded slowly. “If anything goes wrong you get away, all right? Leave me and swim as far and as deep as you can, don’t look back.”

“Jeonghan you don’t need to treat me like I’m a guppy, I have my siren’s belt just like you. I know the songs and the rules when it comes to humans.” Chan rolled his eyes.

“Don’t get too close,” Jeonghan said, looking up at the ship.

‘Don’t stop singing,” Chan said, continuing the mantra engrained in all mer, not just sirens, from a young age. “And don’t let them touch you, because they won’t let go.”

Jeonghan looked over at Chan and nodded, ready. If any two sirens could take a down a ship this size alone, it would be them. Jeonghan had always loved a challenge, especially ones that allowed him to showcase his skills and abilities. As much as Jeonghan desired the praise and acclaim he would receive for bringing down a vessel of this calibre, it was the act of singing and flirting, listening to the sea and paying tribute, that he truly craved.

The ship cut through the water purposefully, it’s white sails filled by the wind. _The captain must know these waters well_ , Jeonghan thought, for having directed the ship so confidently in such a dangerous area.

The Siren Isles were nothing more than a collection of rocks and small islands littering the sea, creating a tricky passage for all ships that tried to navigate through. More than one had gone down without any help from the sirens that called these waters home. But it was the sole passage from the southern mainland and its islands to the northern one, the only other route was to go far west, adding weeks to the journey. Still, trading ships aplenty passed through here, risking the voyage for the promise of coin on the other shore.

Chan chose a small island, nothing more than a collection of rocks and sand, to start from. It was right in the path of the oncoming ship and Chan had to do nothing more than perch upon a rock, tailing dangling in the water, and wave up at the sailors working on the ship.

It only took a few moments for the crew to notice him, calling to each other and plastering themselves to the wooden railing, leaning forward for a better view of the pretty merboy waving to them flirtatiously.

Jeonghan’s mouth turned up into a small, but proud smile. He had taught Chan well, no wonder he was such a skilled siren. Of course, the other merboy had his own natural talents. He was less cute and more handsome with every turn of the tide it seemed to Jeonghan. He was still beyond anything human sailors could ever dream of, Chan’s charming smile and knowing eyes leading to nothing but trouble.

It was his turn now. Jeonghan swam up closer to the side of the ship and smirked up at the crew, pushing his long hair back off his face.

Then he started the song.

It was an old powerful one that had been passed down for generations. He knew it well, the melody ingrained in his blood. He had felt as if he knew the song before he had even heard it, some predestined bond with it. There was a deep magic ingrained in all sirens, but Jeonghan had always felt there was a bit more in him, as if the sea was on his side.

Everyone had known Jeonghan was to be a siren even at a young age, the strong characteristics evident from the very start. Though all mer were singers, some were exceptional, but that alone was not enough to become a siren. You had to be smart and clever, have a mind for strategy. But the thing that truly set sirens apart from other mer was that within them there was a cruel streak deep down. There needed to a certain desire for trouble, for destruction, and manipulation for a mer to become a siren. At age twelve a mer could start training and they had until eighteen to earn their belt, a thin chain with a treasure from the first ship they brought down. Jeonghan had earned his belt by age thirteen, an almost unheard-of achievement. He had worn it proudly since, it finding a home right above where his stomach faded into his tail.

The sailors hung over the edge of the railing of the ship, bent in half at the waist trying to get closer to Jeonghan and Chan who had joined in the song. The crew was large, matching the size of the vessel. They filled the side, desperate to listen to their song, everything else abandoned. The ship was left to crash into the tall, jagged protruding rocks that many ships before had crashed into. This entire area was a ship graveyard, and Jeonghan and Chan were sending another ship to their death, powerful enough with just the two of them.

Jeonghan sang, that dark smile and teasing eyes shining, they were going to do it. They were truly going to be bring down a merchant vessel, just the two of them.

Suddenly a dry rough pair of hands grabbed him under arms from behind, ripping him roughly from the water.

“I’ve got one!” A voice jeered in Jeonghan’s ear, it’s owner pulling him over the hard-wooden side of a small rowboat.

“Chan!” Jeonghan cried, voice harsh in contrast to the sweet sound of his singing moments before. It was one he had never had to use with Chan, always having babied him, his sole soft spot. Jeonghan had hoped he would never have to say Chan’s name like this, angry and scared.

The other siren looked at him with wide, frightened eyes on the other side of the rocks where the ship was still sailing towards. This wasn’t supposed to happen, this was every siren’s worst nightmare. Jeonghan should have known better than to be talked into bringing down a ship with just the two of them. His vanity and ego too easily fed by Chan’s tempting promises of greatness.

“Go deep! Get out of here!” He bellowed as he threw an elbow back hard into the stomach of the man gripping him from behind. His tail sat heavy and useless on the dirty wooden floor of the boat, a deadweight restricting his movement. It looked wrong there, shining in the filth of the mundane boat. This all was so wrong, this wasn’t ever supposed to happen - not to Jeonghan. He was the best, the most beautiful and clever siren of his generation with a voice to match. This wasn’t his fate, to be taken by some common sailor.

The warnings all mer knew, the ones Jeonghan had made Chan repeat to him earlier rung through his ears. _Don’t get too close, don’t stop singing, and don’t let them touch you because they won’t let go._ But he was a fighter, always had been. He wasn’t going to be taken and killed, his ego would never allow it.

“Fishy bastard!” The man groaned, his grip loosening on Jeonghan slightly as he winced in pain.

It was just enough for Jeonghan to grab the side of the rowboat still wet from him being pulled over. He leaned over, pushing himself over the side only to feel the hard yank on his stomach, right where his skin began to fade into his tail. His siren’s belt - the man had a hold of it.

Jeonghan tried to push himself into the water and out of the man’s grip, but his hold on his siren’s belt was too strong, the thin band cutting into him painfully.

He moved his tail, it flopping wildly within in the boat. He grabbed the edge of the boat and propelled him into the water and away from the sailor, an audible snap coming from his midsection along with a hard object colliding with his head.

When he woke, Jeonghan felt wrong. The light weight of his siren’s belt gone from above his tail, it’s absence almost physically painful. This couldn’t be happening, not to Jeonghan. He had worn his belt for eight years, he had planned to wear it for the rest of his life, not have it taken, _stolen_ , from him by some sailor.

He was washed ashore on one of the many small islands. The ship was gone. There was no one in sight.

Jeonghan didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t go back, everyone would notice immediately and everyone knew that a siren without their belt wasn’t a siren, they had lost that right. He would be shunned, cast out and forced to find new waters to call home. They would all say he deserved to lose his belt, having tried to bring down a ship alone with Chan. He was the older one, he should have known better, talked Chan who was so much younger and still filled with the recklessness of youth. Even the other sirens would say his ego had grown too big, his vanity having brought his downfall.

There was only one thing Jeonghan could do: he had to get his belt back.

The ship had been north bound. Jeonghan had never gone past Jungane, the northern most island of the Siren Isles and a notorious pirate market. Beyond that things grew gradually colder, the waters and the creatures within it changing from the ones Jeonghan knew, to those more adept to the less tropical climate. The ship would be past Jungane by now. But Jeonghan was fast, he could still catch it. He had to.

Jeonghan swam faster than he ever had, his tailing propelling him through the water. He tried to think of a plan as he swam. He was still a siren, even without his belt. He still had all the traits of one, he was clever and would devise a plan. Jeonghan was also fueled by anger and a desire for revenge, his plan would of course take that into consideration.

When Jeonghan surfaced, the sun was setting, the sky painted in warm tones of reds and oranges. Jungane was behind him, the ship a small speck on the northern horizon. He was sure it was the same ship, the one carrying the sailor that had stolen his belt, he had seen no other vessel of that size attempt to pass through their waters today. There was still a chance, he could catch up but he would be leaving everything he knew behind. This wasn’t a thing mer did, they stayed in their local waters where they knew the currents, the fish, the cycle of the tide. Going outside of them was unheard of, if you left your home waters you didn’t come back. Jeonghan wouldn’t have a home to come back to without his belt though, and he would rather die trying to get it back then just _let_ some sailor take it.

When he dove again, it was into unknown waters. Jeonghan was a fast swimmer, his tail strong and powerful, but the wind was blowing strong from the south, in the ship’s favour. No matter how hard he swam, each time he surfaced the ship still seemed far away.

By the time Jeonghan saw the sleek boat approaching from the south, the moon hung heavy in the sky, reflecting the almost full circle in the dark salt water. He figured it was his best bet for a rest without quitting his chase completely. In fact, the boat looked like it was made for speed, narrow with many tall sails. Jeonghan waited below the water for it to pass by so he could grab a hold of the thick anchor rope that hung over the side into the water.

He had to swim to catch the rope, the ship moving even faster than he had thought. When he grabbed on, Jeonghan was lurched forward. He wondered if somehow the sea had sent the ship, showing the favour he had seen his whole life. Jeonghan was grateful either way, at this speed he was going to the catch the ship. He was going to get his siren’s belt back.

As they cut through the dark waters illuminated by the moonlight, Jeonghan could finally rest. But resting just allowed time for Jeonghan to think, for his anger to boil into a burning rage. How _dare_ some dirty, common sailor grab him from the water, how _dare_ he presume to touch him at all, how _dare_ he take Jeonghan’s siren’s belt, something he had earned and showed his status for all to see. How _dare_ that sailor think he could get away with any of it, Jeonghan fumed, the large ship finally coming into view ahead of him. He would show that damn sailor, he would show them _all._

When he was parallel to the big ship, the smaller speedier one surpassing it on the journey north, Jeonghan let go. He dove towards the ship, angry and determined. Jeonghan was the best siren in a hundred years, if anyone could do what he was about to try, it would be him. He was going to get his siren’s belt back, no matter what it took.

From the ship hung a thick rope below the three row boats, one of them was the same damn one that the sailor had pulled him into. Jeonghan struggled to pull himself up the rope, it was slick from the water, a light green layer of algae coating it. After a few more tries he managed to get a good hold and lift himself up out of the water. The muscles in his arms were tight, his knuckles white around the rope, and his tail hung heavy and useless below him. Jeonghan had never considered himself weak, in fact he had always thought of himself as strong in every sense of the word. He was a capable mer, a clever siren. He always found a way to get things done, usually with a short cut. Jeonghan didn’t think there was a shortcut for getting himself onto this ship though.

“I almost had him, damn prettiest siren I’ve ever seen in my years as a sailor,” a loud drunken voice boasted from above. “merboy was prettier than any of the girls ashore, whore or lady.” The voice continued with a chuckle, other drunken laughter joining in. “Would have liked to keep him for my own, but he did leave me something,”

“I still can’t believe you got a damn siren’s belt,” another voice commented in amazement.

Jeonghan fumed below, pulling himself up as fast as he could.

He peered over the bottom of the wooden ship railing. Less than half of the crew he had seen earlier remained on deck, Jeonghan figured the others must be asleep below. The ones that remained were lounging about drinking – rum, from what he could smell. Not surprising, it was a typical drink of seamen, cheap and readily available at almost all harbours.

Jeonghan was disgusted, these cretins somehow had been capable of stealing from him, it was almost offensive. To have been had his siren’s belt stolen from him by humans like these, Jeonghan curled his lip in distaste. It was bad enough to have it stolen, for him to lose his identity and the sole symbol of his status – but to lose it to the likes of these? He was almost glad that he wouldn’t be able to go back if his plan didn’t succeed, he could never live with any of the mer from the Siren Isles having found out _he_ had been played by such lowbrow sailors. It was just gas to his already blazing fire within, he was about to boil over with rage.

With a final stain on his muscles, Jeonghan pulled himself up and over the ship’s railing. He landed on the hard-wooden deck with a _thud,_ and the music stopped, heads turned towards him.

“Oh, don’t stop on my behalf,” Jeonghan smiled, his voice honeyed but laced with poison. “Please, keep playing. I’ll even accompany you.”

The sailors were frozen, glassy eyes wide - some in shock, some in horror, some in plain amazement. The one that held the accordion slowly lifted it back to his mouth, watching Jeonghan the whole time.

“Go on,” Jeonghan said with his sickly-sweet smile, the moonlight quickly fading as dark clouds rolled in. “Play something.”

The sailor began to play tentatively, a slowed version of a common lullaby.

Then, Jeonghan began to sing.

The song was not an old powerful one like the one he and Chan had initially sung for this ship and crew, it was also not an easy listening catchy thing. This song was something Jeonghan hadn’t known until he opened his mouth. It was a song that came from within, the sea flowing through him, magic as old as the sea itself. He was no stranger to magic, but this was something beyond anything Jeonghan had ever seen.

His voice was low and thick, laced with anger and magic. The sailors watched, entranced by Jeonghan and his song. As he sang the wind began to howl, the waves growing with each note Jeonghan sang. The ship rose and fell with the sea, the sky now dark with heavy clouds beginning to let down rain. The storm continued to grow as Jeonghan continued to sing, all the rage and hurt and pain coming out.

Jeonghan was a powerful siren, he had always known that. Even he had not foreseen this though. As he finished his song the storm had reached it peak, waves towered over the ships mast, threating to crash down upon them.

“Give me my belt,” Jeonghan ordered over the roar of the wind and waves. The sailors were slowly coming out of the song’s trance, looking around at each other and the storm that they had woken up in with looks of horror. “Return to me what you took! Give me my siren’s belt!”

A few of the sailors scrambled up to try to take down some of the sails, take the helm that been left unattended, the ship sailing blindly through a magically created storm.

“I sold it,” A sailor called back. Jeonghan narrowed his eyes at him, recognizing him. This was the damn sailor that had dared to grab him, dared to steal from him.

Jeonghan fumed. “You _sold_ my siren’s belt?”

A bright flash of lightening cut across the sky, the ship fully illuminated for a single moment. Jeonghan pulled himself across the deck on his elbows, dragging his tail behind him as he made his way over to the sailor.

“Yes…” The sailor nodded, eyes white with terror.

Jeonghan let out a short laugh. “Do you know who I am?”

The sailor shook his head.

“I asked you, do you _know who I am?”_ He repeated, pulling himself upright.

The sailor shook his head furiously, his hair plastered to his ugly face. “No.”

Jeonghan lifted his chin proudly, a streak of lightening followed by clap of thunder that shook the ship. “I am Jeonghan of the Siren Isles. I am the son of the sea and the child of song itself. No one steals from me and survives to tell the tale.”

The storm had reached its peak, the ship at the utter mercy of the sea.

Jeonghan was shaking as he began to sing again, his voice high and clear above the crashing of the waves. Lightening began to strike the water around the ship, encompassing them completely. He was livid, he felt nothing but his rage and the song and the sea. He knew nothing else.

Waves crashed upon the deck, breaking the mast with a loud crack. Another dark tower of salt water came down upon the ship, dragging it beneath the water.

**Author's Note:**

> don't forget to comment and stuff :) it guilts me into updating lol
> 
> find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/checkinsbitch/)


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